1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to social networking. In particular, the present invention is related to taking action upon users in a social networking system with respect to a purpose based on compatibility of the users to the purpose.
2. Background
Social networking systems, including social networks, such as Facebook®, MySpace®, Twitter®, and LinkedIn®, enable a user to interact with other users who are members of an affinity set of the user. Such other users are often referred to as “connections” of the user. For example, an affinity set may be any group of persons, including a group of friends, business associates, players of a massively multiplayer online game, persons with a common interest, all users of a social network, application (“app”), or web site, or a subgroup thereof. A user may belong to any number of affinity sets.
For instance, a user may broadcast social networking updates (e.g., messages regarding the user, the user's observations, etc.) to the user's connections, and the user may receive social networking updates from those connections. The social networking updates may be provided via email, short message service (SMS), instant message (IM), or any other suitable messaging technology.
It may be desirable for a user to invite one or more of the user's connections to join a group, to attend an event, to perform a task, etc. However, the user may not know whether interests, preferences, and/or requirements of the respective connections are compatible with one another. Moreover, the interests, preferences, and/or requirements of the respective connections may not align with a purpose of the group, event, task, etc. that is the subject of the invitation.
Thus, systems, methods, and computer program products are needed that are capable of taking action upon users in a social networking system with respect to a purpose based on compatibility of the users with the purpose.